I'd love to get an educational discussion going on oil, seeing the critical role it plays in our vocation. I'd like to discuss the following:
- Are we running out?
No, we have plenty of oil, the problem is we cannot drill for most of it. Environmental regulations have prevented the US from drilling in Alaska and the California coast for example. The biggest problem is the inability to refine the crude for public consumption.
- Are we relying too heavily on certain sources of crude?
If you are referring to oil from overseas, then yes.
- What needs to be done in the aviation community to conserve? APU usage, tugs, flex climbs?
Slowing down flight will be a good start and possibly reducing frequencies of flights to prevent flying empty aircraft from point A to point B.
- What do you see as the best alternative to Jet A?
There is some sort of algae based fuel being played with right now. I think Virgin Atlantic is also experimenting with some sort of coconut fuel at the moment.
I'll start by posting this paper -
http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg/bg159/. It seems a bit optimistic, and I'd be interested to hear JC's thoughts.